Boise for the weekend

Mom and I went to Boise for the weekend to watch AshLee compete in the Western Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships. The lovely AshLee, pictured here in blue, ran a personal best in the 400 and helped earn points for her team in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. The fine young women from Idaho took 2nd place overall!

When we weren't at the track meet, we managed to stay busy shopping. And then we went shopping. We finished things off with more shopping. My excellent friend Sarah introduced us to the wonders of anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Sephora, all of which are sadly lacking in Spokane. Upon further reflection, I think it's best that there is no anthropologie in this area. If there were I might pack up my little cat and move in there (yes, I know they have a website, but it's not the same). Oh yeah, and then there was the shoe section at Dillards. Oh my goodness.

So now, having fully indulged in a weekend of fun out in the world, I'm ready for a nice quiet weekend at home with my little cat. Kelly Rae Roberts posted on her blog the other day about how she's always been on the cusp of being an extrovert/introvert. And I thought "Yes, exactly!" I love hanging out with family and friends, but my only-child-self also craves time at home alone. I adore puttering around the house, staying in my pjs all day, baking or sewing or reading or napping, just me and Pistol. With that in mind here's my to-do list for this weekend:

Read blogs
Read books
Make stuff
Take naps
Take a walk
Theoretically, I suppose I might do some cleaning. Lord knows, the house could use it.

I think that should make for a very full weekend.

Here's some stuff I made at ArtFest

This is the adorable little suitcase I made in Pamela Huntington's Just In Case class. I was a bit apprehensive going into this class because Pam's style is very pretty and vintagey with soft muted colors. I love her work, but my style is very different. I thought I would be the weird girl with the bright colors. I was the only one with colors this bright, but it was all good as everyone in the class brought their own unique style. The cases all turned out very different and each was a very personal expression of its maker.

One of the many cool things about ArtFest is how down-to-earth the teachers were. The three I had were almost more facilitators than teachers. They showed us techniques and they answered questions and gave excellent guidance, but most of the time in class was spent making and there was an expectation that we would pretty much do whatever the heck we wanted. The teachers were so accessible and encouraging to every single student. The atmosphere was "we're all artists here" not "I'm the teacher and you are the students." Pam was just delighted with all the different directions we pushed her techniques.


Here's the inside of my case. One of the main reasons I chose this class was to get some instruction on making fabric paper. I've tried it before and never could get it right, so I was very excited to finally figure it out. The inside top and bottom are fabric paper made with a batik and tissue paper with embedded bits of paper and fake flowers.

The other technique that was super-cool was the way we applied the fabric around the outside edges (the hot pink "binding" in the top photo). You soak the fabric in watered-down glue. The fabric gets all sticky and stretchy and you can just stick it right on your surface and manipulate it to fit. It dries nice and tight and very solidly attached.

I'll post more about my other classes soon.

Finally

It's finally spring.

Sunday I went for a walk. More of a stroll really.

It's finally warm. I wore shorts, a t-shirt and sandals. My hair is long enough for a ponytail now.


Trees are finally leafing out, flowers are finally blooming. I just ambled along, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin, the chattering of the birds. Letting myself get distracted by flashes of color, wander into fields for a closer look, literally stop and smell the flowers.

This one smelled exotic and spicy.

Lovely.